


Surprise Homecoming

by neddietrix



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, F/M, Suprise homecoming, Thanksgiving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-18
Updated: 2014-11-18
Packaged: 2018-02-26 03:41:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2636672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neddietrix/pseuds/neddietrix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I never realize how  much I like being home unless I've been somewhere really different for a while.</p>
<p>Tucker, a army captain whose been overseas and hasn't been home in two years, decides to surprise everyone for thanksgiving.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Surprise Homecoming

_I never realize how much I like being home unless I've been somewhere really different for a while._

 

Being away from home and your family is an ache that is hard to quench when you're in the service. Sure, theres skype and cell phones but those are few and far between and doesn't really fill that hole that had wormed its way into the chest of almost every serviceman or servicewoman that was stationed so far away from home. For Lavernius Tucker, it burned him through to his core, not being able to hug his son, goof around with his two best friends, or just sit back and have a beer with the group of people he calls his family. 

He chose this for himself, and he doesn't have many regrets about signing up, he wanted to provide a better life for his son and this did accomplish that. He regretted not being able to see said son in the last 2 years and 3 months though. Lavernius Tucker Jr, or just Junior, was proud of his dad, he said that almost every time they talked together on skype. 

“I love you, I miss you, and I’m proud of you.” is the most common phrase said between the two. 

But for Junior, like any child of a military parent, it was hard not to miss his dad. Sure he had plenty of family around, his uncles and aunts were always there to cheer him up or just support him when he needed it, but they weren't dad. 

So that’s why Tucker decided he needed to do something for his son, something special, and everyone in the service knew one thing. Nothing could beat the feeling of surprising their families and loved ones with a homecoming they didn't know was about to happen. It had taken a few weeks to plan, he didn't want to fill in more people than necessary back home that he was doing this. What could be more fun than surprising the entirety of his family back stateside anyway? He decided that the person he could trust to help him plan the whole thing was one of his friend’s and Junior’s pseudo-aunt Carolina. 

“Carolina I need a favor, and you’re going to love this.” Gaining her help was easy, and the timing of the whole thing was almost to perfect. his CO Kimball had given the green light for the whole thing when he asked her for early leave, when he wasn't supposed to leave for another three weeks. So instead he would make it home a day before Thanksgiving, the only time his whole family would be in one place. Perfect timing is a blessing. So Tucker hopped onto the first plane he could get and flew for almost twenty two hours to finally arrive home at Blood Gulch Airport. 

As he took his luggage and walked off the plane he felt almost dead on his feet, army drills didn't have shit on being on a plane for so long. He should find a way to make his lieutenants feel like he does right now next time they decide to mouth off. Scanning the people waiting for the other passengers he spotted a white sign with bright teal marker reading; Captain Lavernius Tucker on it. He grinned and jogged up to where Carolina and her boyfriend York were standing. The grin split his face before he even knew he was smiling. 

“Welcome back, Army Man.” Carolina smirked at the younger man. 

“Good to be back, believe it or not but I missed your cheek and sarcasm.” Tucker teased back at his companion before pulling her into a brief hug. She gave him a hard squeeze and they released each other and he grinned at the older male. York clapped him on the shoulder and was also grinning ear to ear like the other two. 

“It’s been different since you got shipped out Tuck. Everyone’s missed you.” 

“Don’t make it so gushy dude.” Tucker joked at York, who just shoved his shoulder in response. 

The trio decided it was probably time to go and quickly worked their way out of the airport and into York’s car. Tucker tossed his duffle into the back and pretty much slumped into the backseat, and he remembers putting his seatbelt on and then he blinked and they were at the couple’s apartment. Jet lag’s a bitch. 

He did manage to make it up to their apartment and immediately collapse onto their small couch face first. So points to him, he was honestly tempted to sleep in the car. 

“Dude, Tucker are you sure you don't want something to eat before you pass out?” York asked when he stuck his head into the living room. Tucker’s reply was muffled by the couch cushions his face was trying to become a part of. “What the hell did you even say?” 

“Sleep now, food later. Also, probably fuck my dick or suck my dick I’m not sure.” Carolina translated for her boyfriend, being an expert on mumbled half awake talk. You can only deal with Grif and a drunk Church for so long before picking it up. “He’ll be dead to the world for awhile, besides tomorrow is a big day so we might as well let him sleep.” 

The looked watched on as their friend began to snore into their couch,` York gave his girlfriend a sidelong glance “Fifty bucks says that Donut cries.” 

“Fifty bucks says that Tucker cries” Carolina shot back at him. 

“Deal” They shook on it. 

Tucker ended up sleep until noon the next day, when York finally woke him up to get dressed and head over to where the whole family was eating dinner together that night at Church’s home. Church and Tucker were roommates back in college and best friends, no matter how much Church denied it.Then Caboose came along and soon after that came Kaikaina. The floodgates had been opened and their little family grew and grew over time, so when Junior was born and his mother ran off with some jackass named Andy to who knows where, he felt safe being able to have him live with Church and the others in that big blue house they called home. Being home again, was exhilarating and Tucker could not wait to see that old house, and everyone inside.

 

Tucker dressed in his formal uniform and soon after they all hopped into the car and drove the 30 minute drive to dinner. They pulled up behind South’s pick up and parked, everyone’s cars were already here, meaning Carolina and York were the only ones who were late to dinner. York and Carolina looked back at their passenger. Tucker gave them both a thumbs up to reassure them. 

“The plan Soldier Surprise is a go. Agent you have your orders.” Tucker said in his best I'm-your-CO-so-shut-up voice. He used it a lot on base back where he was stationed, mostly when getting Palomo to actually do what he’s supposed too. Using it in York’s car just made the older male laugh and Carolina roll her eyes at him. 

“Roger that Captain Smartass” the red head gave him a mock salute and the couple quickly exited their vehicle. They left Tucker in the car to wait for the signal to come in to surprise everyone. He also hopped out but didn't follow his two friends up the path, instead he watched them enter the house and sat down on the sidewalk, and waited. 

He thought about the past two years he’s been away, how many birthdays and holidays he’s missed. It had become a tradition that whenever the family was all together in one place they'd take a moment to call his cellphone and put him on speaker to catch up with everyone at once. It really brightened up his day overseas when he could hear all of the bickering and stupid jokes that his group was known for. Since everyone still thought he was thousands of miles away today, they would absolutely call him. That is what Carolina and him decided would be the signal, while everyone was talking to him and over each other (which happened quite a lot) he would sneak in through the front. 

So he waited, and time passed so slowly for him. The sounds of bickering made their way to the sidewalk where Tucker sat and it made him chuckle, he could distinctly hear Church’s yell with Caboose making loud proclamations. It was strange how one could miss being in the middle of the shitstorm that was his home life. Living here had seemed like some kind of weird sitcom with 70% more profanity and yelling matches, how they had never gotten the cops called on themselves was anyone’s guess. Tucker had put his money on it being the fact that Tex and Washington had soon moved in about three years before he signed up, and those two were part of the BGPD. Those two are probably how most of the residents in the Blue House escaped being arrested for one thing or another. 

Another twenty minutes passed before the soldier’s cell phone rang in his pocket. He pulled it out and checked the ID before answering, **Leonard ‘Asshole’ Church** , was the name that flashed at him, the picture attached was from the day he left for training. He let it go for two more rings before hitting accept call. 

“Captain Tucker speaking.” habit had formed to answer all his calls formally, which most people in his position did. 

Loud greetings made him pull the phone away from his ear as he stood up and shoot it a dirty look, he loved them all he really did, but god damn those people were fucking loud. 

“Daddy! Hi!” Junior’s voice was the one greeting he latched onto and let bring a smile to his face. 

“Hey buddy, hey everyone. What do I owe the pleasure to this call?” Tucker was playing dumb mainly for Junior’s sake. The boy loved informing his father about everything even if Tucker knew exactly what day it was. 

“It’s Thanksgiving Daddy! We’re at home and everyone is here!” The nine year old informed him. Tucker had started making his way to the front door and wiped his feet on Caboose’s door mat. He didn't know who let the man buy it, but he thought it was pretty hilarious, reading out the Dog is nice, beware the people warning to any and all visitors. Though knowing Caboose’s dog Freckles, he wasn't sure how true the statement was. 

“Well, I had know idea it was turkey day already. I’ve been having so much work it must of slipped my mind.” Tucker feigned ignorance some more which received a scoff that sounded like Church. 

“Yeah right, you were probably slacking off and making that Palomo kid do all your work.” Sure enough it was Church who called him out. Tucker almost burst out laughing but held it back. 

“Well of course he was making Palomo do it, thats what subordinates are for!” Sarge’s voice cut in and started an argument between Church and himself. As usual. 

“Ignore those two, anyway Tucker, We’re all excited to hear you’ll be home in a few weeks, its been way too long since you’ve been home.” Washington took control of the situation and helped drown out the fighting duo. Though the loud thwack noise and Church’s whine told Tucker that Tex had decided to end it by smacking him on the head. 

“Yeah, hopefully I can make it back on time. You all know I’d be back sooner if I could be.” He gave them a bit of bait to distract them “Do any of you have any plans for me when I get back?” and just like that the chorus of voices rang out as they snatched the bait, hook, line, and sinker. 

He let them all go on and on as he quietly opened the front door, Freckles was laying right in front of it but only glanced up at him, holding no interest in the dark skinned man. He winked at the canine and crept down the hallway towards the dining room where all the noise generated.  
He stopped just outside the doorway of the dining room and just watched for a moment. Everyone was too focused on the phone laying on the table to notice him, Carolina and York both glanced over at him with smiles on their faces. Tucker smirked and winked back at the both of them. 

“Well guys you should let Tucker decide what he wants to do when he gets home.” Wash admonished and slightly scolded the entire group “What do you wanna do when you get back stateside?” He directed the question to the phone. Tucker pulled his away from his ear and hit end call quickly as he grinned at the crowd. 

“Have Thanksgiving dinner obviously.” The statement it seemed to take a few seconds for everyone to register as the call dropped on the phone but his voice rang out in the silence. The few people closest to him whipped around towards him and other’s heads shot over to him as well. Most people were wide eyed and a few people had their mouths gaping open. He just stood there with his classic shit eating grin. Quickly after that shouts of different volumes broke out over the room, many of them included the phrases “Oh my god!” and “Holy shit!” which made him laugh. 

“Daddy!” Junior’s yell caught his attention and he instantly kneeled down to catch the child that propelled himself into his father’s arms. Tucker wrapped his arms around Junior and stood hugging his son tightly to his chest. Junior buried his face into the crook of Tuckers neck and let out a heavy breath that unleashed the flood gates inside the kid’s chest. “You’re home! Daddy I missed you!” 

“I missed you to buddy, everyday.” He rubbed one hand on Junior’s back to calm the boy. He set him down and Junior attached himself to his father’s waist. Caboose and Kaikaina were the next ones to pounce onto Tucker. Caboose nearly squeezed the life right out of him though. 

“Tucker! I have missed you Tucker! It has been a very long time.” Caboose told him in that way only the large man could. 

“Hey Caboose, it has been a very long time, I’m sorry I’ve been gone so long.” Tucker patted his large friend on his shoulder which seemed to placate the man. “Kai, still gorgeous.” He winked at the hawaiian woman. Kaikaina instead of a response just kissed him on his check and let him go, passing him onto the others. 

He was surprised by how many hugs he got, he thought at most a few claps on the shoulder or a ‘bro hug’ but no. Most of his pseudo-family decided they each needed a turn at squeezing the bejesus out of the short black man. Donut managed to cry more than Junior did, and Tucker purposefully ignored Carolina handing her boyfriend a fifty dollar bill. 

Church was the last person to come up to Tucker. He half heartedly glared at the army captain then pulls him into a one armed hug. The hug was the briefest he had gotten from everyone, (no one could hug longer than Donut and Doc) but it was the hug of a brother finally seeing another brother after such a long time apart. 

“Don't make it gay dude.” Tucker mumbled under his breath so only Church could hear him. The older man shoved him away and scoffed. 

“Whatever asshole.” Church grumbled but he was smiling anyway. 

“When did you get back anyway, you aren't supposed to be back so soon.” North asked once everything had settled down some, they all started making their plates and sitting down to dinner. 

“I pulled of few strings, I just got back yesterday actually. Carolina and York hid me in their apartment for the night so I could surprise everyone.” Tucker shrugged and smirked when South shot the two a dirty look. 

“You dicks, you couldn't let at least some of us know that the biggest pain in the ass was coming back to Blood Gulch?” She complained, which was her way of welcoming him back. 

York laughed “We did it all just to inconvenience you South. Like everything else we do.” She just let out a huff of air and turned back to CT. When everyone sat down they started going around the table to say what they were thankful for this year. 

Tex said she was thankful for the fact that she and Wash weren't called away for the evening. Carolina and York said they were thankful for each other, which made everyone pretend to gag at their gushy romance. Kaikaina in all her tact said that being STD free was what she was thankful for, so classy. It went on like that around the table before it stopped on Junior, the nine year old thought about his answer before stating;

“I am thankful for Miss Kimball, cause she’s nice and let my daddy come back so he could be with us.” He nodded and felt Tucker squeeze his shoulder from his seat next to him “Your turn Daddy.” 

“Well, I guess I'm thankful for Blood Gulch, and this big blue house. If it weren't for this place, I don't think we'd all be together here. I know we fight and bicker like no one’s business, and I'm pretty sure we want to kill each other sometimes, this is our home. It took signing up and leaving this all behind the fact that I never realize how much I like being home unless I've been somewhere really different for a while.” He finished his little speech and looked around at everyone else sitting at the table with him. It was true, how this house brought them all together, Church brought Caboose and Tex, Tex brought with her Washington and Carolina. Those two brought the other ‘freelancers’ (which was just a catchy name for the volunteer firefighting work they did), Kaikaina brought her brother, and Grif somehow managed to make the red house across from this one become family. It was a weird mix of completely crazy people but they made it work somehow, and for that, Tucker was very thankful. 

“Dude, you're so melodramatic.” Grif stated in a bored tone, which made Tucker throw a roll at the chubby man. Grif shrugged and just ate the former projectile and thus they all began to eat.


End file.
